Markets

Court Tells Founder of 'Fuel Saver' Firm to Pay Investors

The founder of Save the World Air Inc., a North Hollywood company that claimed it had built a device to boost gas mileage and reduce auto emissions, was ordered Thursday to pay $7.6 million for allegedly cheating investors.

Jeffrey Alan Muller was ordered by a federal court in New York to return the money he made when the stock soared in 1999 and 2000 on false sales reports of the "zero-emission fuel saver" device, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. The company was based in Australia at the time of the fraud, the agency said.

"The court found that Muller made materially false claims about the testing, compatibility, and marketing of the ZEFS device," the SEC said. "At the same time, Muller privately sold millions of shares of restricted [company] stock at substantial profits to himself."

Muller couldn't be reached, and Save the World President Bruce McKinnon declined to comment.

Save the World shares fell 24% on July 7, 2000, after Ford Motor Co. denied that it was considering testing the company's emissions device. The shares rose 3 cents to 92 cents in over-the-counter trading Thursday.